The saga of the fight to curb spending by St. Tammany Coroner Peter Galvan is getting more tangled. Now parish government is suing Dr. Galvan in hopes of forcing him to obey a new state law and give the parish control over his spending.

Dr. Galvan filed his own suit in mid-June in Baton Rouge to fight a new state law aimed at keeping him from wasting more tax dollars on excessive salaries and meals on the town.

His lawsuit was an audacious move, especially since the FBI and the Legislative Auditor's Office are investigating his office and residents are pushing a recall petition.

Now that the parish has countered with its lawsuit, it is vital for the courts to take up these cases as quickly as possible.

Both sides have hired private law firms -- and the public will have to pay those bills. Obviously, the longer the suits drag on, the bigger the fees.

More importantly, the coroner's spending simply shouldn't be allowed to continue as it has been.

Dr. Galvan and his staff have been on a spree since voters approved a new property tax for the coroner's office in 2004 and the Legislature gave him unfettered control over the money in 2007.

Records show that the office payroll has increased 350 percent since 2004, with several employees being paid more than $100,000 each. Dr. Galvan, who works part-time as coroner, is paying himself a whopping $203,547. That is up from $75,000 just a few years ago.

The salaries in Jefferson Parish, which is significantly larger than St. Tammany and handles more autopsies, are more modest. That includes the coroner, Dr. Jerry Cvitanovich, who makes $72,000 per year, according to records.

In addition, NOLA.com | Times-Picayune reporters revealed in January that Dr. Galvan's office had spent taxpayer money on more than $36,000 in meals at 151 different restaurants from 2006 through 2012. The office also used taxpayers' money at groceries, retail stores, sporting goods outlets and even a school for flight lessons, agency records show.

Dr. Galvan doesn't want to let go, though. He filed suit in the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge arguing that the act should be ruled unconstitutional. It appeared that the parish wouldn't be able to take control while that suit was pending. How the parish's lawsuit, which was filed in the 22nd Judicial District Court in Covington, will affect that is unclear.

The suit filed by Dr. Galvan claims the new law violates Louisiana's Constitution in several ways, including restricting the coroner's ability to perform his constitutional duties, using coroner's office tax dollars for other purposes and violating a 2006 cooperative endeavor agreement between Dr. Galvan and parish government. The cooperative endeavor followed the passage of the 2007 law giving the coroner full control over his office's spending.

In simple terms, the parish suit argues that the law is valid and asked the court to force Dr. Galvan to comply with it. The suit asks that he be ordered to transfer money to the parish, turn over contracts, salary and other information.

State Rep. Tim Burns, who authored House Bill 561, said last week that he is confident that the law will stand up to legal scrutiny.

The courts will have to decide those issues as well as sort out jurisdiction. But it was the Legislature that gave Dr. Galvan the power over his spending -- and not that long ago. So it seems that lawmakers would have the authority to take that control away.

Unfortunately for St. Tammany residents, there is nothing to keep the coroner's office from continuing to waste their money while the court fight goes on. That's why the judges ought to move quickly.